Mega Chandelure ex

What Mega Chandelure ex looks like when you open the box

Across the 82 lists we counted, this deck runs 17 to 23 Pokémon, 27 to 35 Trainers and 7 to 12 Energy. Its attacks are paid for in Psychic.

On results pages and on stream you will see it written « mega-chandelure-ex ». Every card named in that label turns up in the tables below, which is what makes it a fair name for the deck.

Look at the Energy: 7 to 12 out of 60, when half the 125 decks we track run 11 or more. This one is lean. It lives on cheap attacks and leans on Trainers to find the right Energy at the right moment rather than stockpiling it.

It takes a while to set up. Mega Chandelure ex is a Stage 2 Pokémon: you put down the baby, you evolve it, and then you evolve it again. Three cards stacked before anything attacks. That is what the hardest-hitting decks cost you, and it is also where they crack — a fast opponent can bury you before the line is standing.

Look at the Trainers: 27 to 35 cards out of 60, against a median of 31 across the 125 decks we track. Inside that, 9 to 17 Supporters, and the rule there is strict — one a turn, even if you are holding three. The 8 to 19 Items you can play all of in the same turn. It also brings up to 4 Stadiums, and 87 of the 125 decks we track bring that many or more. Only one Stadium sits on the table at a time: the one you play sends the one already there to the discard pile.

What Tools and Stadiums do — the two Trainer families we skipped here — and why the Energy count says so much: how to read a deck list.

What the card in this deck's name actually does

Mega Chandelure ex gives this deck its name. Here is what is written on it.

Mega Chandelure ex is in all 82 lists, 3 copies of it. Its Ability is called Binding Flame, and here is what is printed on it, word for word: « Your opponent's Active Pokémon's Retreat Cost is {C} more. »

How Mega Chandelure ex actually wins

Mega Chandelure ex attacks with Phantom Maze. It needs 2 Psychic Energy attached, and it has 350 HP. The damage box reads "130+": 130 to start with, and 50 more per Energy the Pokémon across the table needs to retreat.

The cost of Phantom Maze decides your first few turns. You only get to attach one Energy a turn, and that attack asks for 2. On your own attachments alone, your first real swing lands on turn 2. We have not found anything in this list that attaches Energy faster than that, so plan on holding out for a turn before you swing. Those turns still get played: you fill your Bench, you build your lines, and you keep something back to rebuild with when your attacker falls.

Energy is not your only clock. Litwick has to climb two steps before it becomes Mega Chandelure ex, and an evolution asleep at the bottom of your deck does you no good at all. The list has that covered. Hilda, which the list runs 4 of, goes into your deck for an evolution. Careful, though: only 80 of the 82 lists bring it, so it is a choice, and players are still arguing about it.

Here is the detail that quietly loses games. To pull Mega Chandelure ex back to the Bench you have to discard 2 Energy attached to it. Retreating does not cost you your turn, you can step back and still swing right after. What it costs you is the 2 Energy you spent 2 turns attaching, and you start that climb again from nothing. Pack a card that moves it for free, or send it up knowing it stays up.

Mega Chandelure ex is a Mega Evolution ex, and that is the most expensive rule in the game: your opponent takes 3 Prize cards instead of one the turn it goes down. They need 6 to win the game, so 2 well-placed knockouts on that card beat you, where it would take 6 knockouts anywhere else on your Bench.

The attackers in the deck's core, with their best attack, its cost and their Weakness

Pokémon	HP	Attack	Damage	Cost	Weakness	Retreat
Close Mega Chandelure exStage 2	350	Phantom Maze	130+		Darkness ×2	2
Close LitwickBasic	70	Will-O-Wisp	20		Darkness ×2	1

The core: the 7 cards every list runs

These 7 cards appear in all 82 lists, without a single exception. That is 24 of the 60 slots. The other 36 are decided player by player.

Look at how those 24 slots break down: 7 Trainers, 11 Pokémon, 6 Energy. Pokémon dominate, which is unusual: this deck needs bodies on the board, and it depends on any single attacker less than it looks.

7 of those 7 cards do not sit at the same count from list to list: Lampent (2 to 4), Litwick (2 to 4) and Mega Chandelure ex (2 to 4), plus 4 more. Add those spreads up and you get 22 copies the 82 lists do not agree on, inside the core itself.

What "3 to 4" means in the copies column, what the "TWM 130" code under each name is for, and why we count dozens of lists instead of one: how to read a deck list.

The cards present in every list counted, with the number of copies

Copies	Card	Printing	Kind
2–4	Close Lampent	PBL 37	Pokémon
2–4	Close Litwick	PBL 36	Pokémon
2–4	Close Mega Chandelure ex	PBL 38	Pokémon
1–4	Close Poké Pad	POR 81	Trainer
1–4	Close Boss's Orders	MEG 114	Trainer
1–4	Close Telepathic Psychic Energy	POR 88	Energy
1–8	Psychic Energy	MEE 5	Energy

The 88 cards that change from list to list

88 cards fight over the 36 slots that are left: 11 above three lists in four, 66 below one in four, and the percentage on each row says how many players took it.

The most agreed on first: Lillie's Determination at 99 %, Air Balloon at 99 % and Hilda at 98 %, plus 8 more above 75 %. Add those to the core and you have the common build.

The dividing line runs through Legacy Energy, at 50 %: 41 of 82 players took it, 41 put something else there. It is an ACE SPEC card, and you are allowed exactly one in your whole deck. The players who passed on it did not leave the slot empty: they put a different ACE SPEC there. Right at the bottom of the table, Surfer (17 lists out of 82) and Battle Cage (15 lists out of 82).

Why a card at 45 % is not a bad card, and what order to buy all this in: how to read a deck list.

The cards some lists run and others don't, most common first

Lists running it	Card	Copies	Printing	Kind
99 %81/82	Close Lillie's Determination	2–4	MEG 119	Trainer
99 %81/82	Close Air Balloon	1–3	ASC 181	Trainer
98 %80/82	Close Hilda	3–4	WHT 84	Trainer
98 %80/82	Close Rare Candy	2–4	MEG 125	Trainer
95 %78/82	Close Chandelure	1–4	TWM 38	Pokémon
95 %78/82	Fire Energy	1–3	MEE 2	Energy
88 %72/82	Close Elgyem	1–2	BLK 40	Pokémon
87 %71/82	Close Night Stretcher	1–3	ASC 196	Trainer
83 %68/82	Close Comfey	1–2	SCR 63	Pokémon
83 %68/82	Close Lana's Aid	1–2	TWM 155	Trainer
82 %67/82	Close Xerosic's Machinations	1–3	SFA 64	Trainer
68 %56/82	Close Shaymin	1	DRI 10	Pokémon
67 %55/82	Close Ultra Ball	1–4	MEG 131	Trainer
52 %43/82	Close Pokégear 3.0	1–4	SVI 186	Trainer
50 %41/82	Close Legacy Energy	1	TWM 167	Energy
43 %35/82	Close Clefairy	1	POR 30	Pokémon
40 %33/82	Close Buddy-Buddy Poffin	2–4	TEF 144	Trainer
38 %31/82	Close Psyduck	1	ASC 39	Pokémon
37 %30/82	Close Neo Upper Energy	1	TEF 162	Energy
34 %28/82	Close Lillie's Clefairy ex	1–2	JTG 56	Pokémon
32 %26/82	Close Maractus	1	JTG 8	Pokémon
29 %24/82	Close Dawn	1–3	PFL 87	Trainer
21 %17/82	Close Surfer	1	SSP 187	Trainer
18 %15/82	Close Battle Cage	2–3	PFL 85	Trainer
15 %12/82	Close Meowth ex	1	POR 62	Pokémon
13 %11/82	Close Mystery Garden	1–3	MEG 122	Trainer
13 %11/82	Close Wally's Compassion	1–2	MEG 132	Trainer
12 %10/82	Close Flutter Mane	1	TEF 78	Pokémon
11 %9/82	Close Mr. Mime	1	TEF 63	Pokémon
11 %9/82	Close Wondrous Patch	1–3	PFL 94	Trainer
11 %9/82	Close Handheld Fan	1–2	TWM 150	Trainer
10 %8/82	Close Fezandipiti ex	1	ASC 142	Pokémon
10 %8/82	Close Team Rocket's Watchtower	1–2	DRI 180	Trainer
10 %8/82	Close Gravity Gemstone	1–2	SCR 137	Trainer
9 %7/82	Close Energy Search	1	POR 72	Trainer
7 %6/82	Close Budew	1	ASC 16	Pokémon
7 %6/82	Close Dedenne	1	SSP 87	Pokémon
6 %5/82	Close Drakloak	2–3	TWM 129	Pokémon
6 %5/82	Close Dreepy	2–3	TWM 128	Pokémon
6 %5/82	Close Dragapult ex	1	TWM 130	Pokémon
6 %5/82	Close Blowtorch	1	PFL 86	Trainer
6 %5/82	Close Miracle Headset	1	SSP 183	Trainer
5 %4/82	Close Banette	1	PBL 34	Pokémon
5 %4/82	Close Latias ex	1	SSP 76	Pokémon
5 %4/82	Close Shuppet	1	PBL 33	Pokémon
5 %4/82	Close Ciphermaniac's Codebreaking	1–2	TEF 145	Trainer
5 %4/82	Close Prime Catcher	1	TEF 157	Trainer
5 %4/82	Close Special Red Card	1	CRI 82	Trainer
4 %3/82	Close Jynx	1–3	PBL 32	Pokémon
4 %3/82	Close Chi-Yu	1	MEG 31	Pokémon
4 %3/82	Close Nighttime Mine	2–3	ASC 197	Trainer
4 %3/82	Close Jacinthe	1	POR 75	Trainer
4 %3/82	Close Sacred Ash	1	DRI 168	Trainer
4 %3/82	Close Strange Timepiece	1–3	MEG 128	Trainer
2 %2/82	Close Cubchoo	1	BLK 25	Pokémon
2 %2/82	Close Mega Diancie ex	1	PFL 41	Pokémon
2 %2/82	Close Brock's Scouting	2	JTG 146	Trainer
2 %2/82	Close Morty's Conviction	2	TEF 155	Trainer
2 %2/82	Close Ruffian	2	JTG 157	Trainer
2 %2/82	Close Accompanying Flute	1	TWM 142	Trainer
2 %2/82	Close Crispin	1	SCR 133	Trainer
2 %2/82	Close Energy Retrieval	1	SVI 171	Trainer
2 %2/82	Close Eri	1	TEF 146	Trainer
2 %2/82	Close Prism Energy	2	ASC 216	Energy
1 %1/82	Close Abra	4	MEG 54	Pokémon
1 %1/82	Close Kadabra	4	MEG 55	Pokémon
1 %1/82	Close Alakazam	3	MEG 56	Pokémon
1 %1/82	Close Duskull	3	PRE 35	Pokémon
1 %1/82	Close Dudunsparce	2	TEF 129	Pokémon
1 %1/82	Close Dunsparce	2	JTG 120	Pokémon
1 %1/82	Close Dusclops	2	PRE 36	Pokémon
1 %1/82	Close Dusknoir	2	PRE 37	Pokémon
1 %1/82	Close Beheeyem	1	BLK 41	Pokémon
1 %1/82	Close Mew ex	1	30C 66	Pokémon
1 %1/82	Close Pokémon Catcher	4	POR 82	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Enhanced Hammer	2	TWM 148	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Gwynn	2	PBL 78	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close AZ's Tranquility	1	CRI 76	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Dark Bell	1	PBL 75	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Jamming Tower	1	TWM 153	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Kieran	1	TWM 154	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Powerglass	1	SFA 63	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Redeemable Ticket	1	JTG 156	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Scoop Up Cyclone	1	TWM 162	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Switch	1	MEG 130	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Team Rocket's Petrel	1	DRI 176	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Tool Scrapper	1	ASC 212	Trainer
1 %1/82	Close Unfair Stamp	1	TWM 165	Trainer

The most common Mega Chandelure ex list, all 60 cards

Here they are in full, ready to build. 24 slots come from the core, the cards all 82 lists run. The remaining 36 come from the table just above, working down it: the cards the most players chose, each at its most common copy count, until the total lands on 60.

This list is nobody's list in particular. It takes, slot by slot, what the most people played, under the guardrails a judge would hold you to: never more than four copies of a card, and one ACE SPEC. Behind the core it took 17 more cards to reach 60. The whole thing comes to 21 Pokémon, 29 Trainers and 10 Energy.

One thing to know before you build it: the 82 lists we counted are all from players who came in the top twenty of their tournament. Nobody publishes the lists of the players who lost. So what you have in front of you is what the players finishing near the top bring most often.

The text under the table is the one the game expects: copy it, paste it into the deck manager, and the list builds itself.

Why we only read lists from players who came in the top twenty of their tournament, and what that changes about every percentage on this page: how to read a deck list.

Pokémon: 21
4 Lampent PBL 37
4 Litwick PBL 36
3 Mega Chandelure ex PBL 38
4 Chandelure TWM 38
1 Elgyem BLK 40
2 Comfey SCR 63
1 Shaymin DRI 10
1 Clefairy POR 30
1 Psyduck ASC 39

Trainer: 29
4 Poké Pad POR 81
3 Boss's Orders MEG 114
4 Lillie's Determination MEG 119
2 Air Balloon ASC 181
4 Hilda WHT 84
2 Rare Candy MEG 125
2 Night Stretcher ASC 196
1 Lana's Aid TWM 155
2 Xerosic's Machinations SFA 64
2 Ultra Ball MEG 131
3 Pokégear 3.0 SVI 186

Energy: 10
4 Telepathic Psychic Energy POR 88
2 Psychic Energy MEE 5
3 Fire Energy MEE 2
1 Legacy Energy TWM 167

Total Cards: 60

How many different cards Mega Chandelure ex needs, and how long it will last

You need 95 different cards to cover every version of this deck, 7 of which nobody argues about. The rest is where lists differ from one another, and that is where you have room to choose.

All 82 lists bring an ACE SPEC, and that is where they part ways: 41 took Legacy Energy, 30 took Neo Upper Energy and 5 took Miracle Headset. The flex table shows you all 6. You are allowed ONE ACE SPEC card in your whole deck, so a single copy covers it whatever it costs. New to this deck? Take Legacy Energy and watch what the others do with theirs before you switch.

Then there is time, and the answer is a good one: not one of the 7 core cards carries the letter H, the one that goes at the next rotation. This deck walks through the change whole.

What Mega Chandelure ex struggles against

The attackers in this deck are Weak to Darkness, so they take DOUBLE damage from that type. 19 of the 125 decks we track attack in exactly that type.

Concretely, here is what is waiting for you: N's Zoroark ex, Mega Sharpedo ex / Toxtricity and Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex / Froslass, plus 16 more decks. The table below takes them one at a time, and those are the lists you practise against first before an event.

This table counts one thing, Weakness, and that comes to 19 decks out of the 125 we track. The other 106 do not attack into yours, and this table says nothing about them. You will still run into them.

Going the other way, your attackers are Psychic, and 6 of the decks we track have an attacker Weak to one of those: Mega Lucario ex / Hariyama, Mega Lucario ex and Greninja ex, among others. That is you doubling, for once. Second half of the table.